Not so fast with the 5*s.

Not so fast with the 5*s.
Let me share my experience.
My husband was battling lung cancer that had met to his brain. 6 days before he died, we reached out to hospice; mainly because we were not getting things from various home health care that we needed and wanted fast or easily enough, like home oxygen, wheelchair, etc.
The rep came in on a Wed. She went over the MOLST with us. We went with much; declined some. I always wanted the option to be able to call 911 if I felt that I could save him. We understood what we were getting in to.
5 days later, my husband complained of a headache, and we decided he should go back to bed and "try again later'. That's what we did. That was 8:30 AM. At 11:00, I called Hospice concerned that he was still sleeping. The on-call nurse told me not to worry about it, he was likely sleeping off the steroid taper.
So I waited. I waited too long. At 2 in the afternoon, I called again, and asked if a nurse could come right away. They said it would be 45 minutes. Dean died at 3:45 PM. Hospice got there at 3:50.
That's not really the problem here. Hospice sent 2 reps; a nurse (who was awesome) and a social worker named Shakira. Shakira wears dragon finger nails, and flips her hair like she's sitting at a bar with a cocktail. She first asked me if Dean was a veteran. I said no. She then went on to tell me how glorious a veterans funeral is for 10-15 minutes. Then she told me that I "must have been told by more than one" of Deans doctors that he was terminal. She assumed this without ever asking if we knew he was near death. No, not one of the 6 specialists ever once said we were close to end of life. She continued to talk too much, and flip her hair with her perfectly purple extra-long fingernails with the one ring finger that's all glittery and silver. So inappropriate for her job. Or wait; any job that involves people, health care, food service...
I asked the nurse to step outside. I then asked her that Shakira be removed from my house. This request was not honored, and as they wheeled my husband of 34 years out of my house in a body bag, Shakira asked me if there was anything else she could do for me. I said "you talk too much". To which she responded "alrightly then!". And they left.
Never has Compass followed up with me with support. All they cared about was getting the drugs from the fridge.
Then I got the bill. Just this week; 2 months after the fact. $140 a day for 7 days.
I wish they had realized that I was in complete shock when my husband died, and given me more time to digest exactly what was happening. I wish I'd been involved more in preparing his body for transport, which was not offered as an option, instead of feeling rushed to make decisions. And I wish that the social worker assigned to us had some empathy and some professionalism and could have made it her job to know the facts before she assumed what was false info. Deans passing was a shock; despite his horrific diagnosis. He was, by all who treated him; on his way to recovery. He died of brain swelling due to radiation. No one had that on their radar. Not one doctor said we were near death.
So now, almost 3 months later, I still have not been offered support in any way by Compass. Everyone talks about how "wonderful" compass Hospice is! I couldn't have had a more different and discouraging experience. My advice? Question everything. If your gut tells you that someone in the room is inappropriate, your gut is right. While I think that Hospice as a whole is a marvelous organization of angels, I think there are employees who don't necessarily belong there.